I am seeking information about former Kiap Alan Atkins who passed away from Cancer whilst operating a Supermarket in Kundiawa in 1970 or 71. Judy his then wife has approached me to seek any details of his service that will help her apply for the Police Overseas Medal, which I believe can be issued Posthumously. George thinks that Alan would have been about 1965 kiap's vintage and served at least in Morobe Province where his last posting would have been Kaiapit.If anyone has any documents or photographs that could assist Judy, you can send them to me at alan_m@live.com.au and I will pass them on.

_________________Finished as a Kiap in Lae in 1980.
City Manager Lae City Council to 1984
Admin Manager Major Wholesalers to 1994.
I have been President of Lae Chamber of Commerce sine 1995 and I am currently Chairman of the National Roads Authority.

We have Alan listed on the Kiap Nominal Roll as having done patrols out of Finschhafen in 1962-63 and there is a photograph of him in the Patrol Officers' Long Course at Asopa in 1964 in the photographs section on the left of this screen.

You can download the Finsch patrol reports index as shown elsewhere on this site.

There is a file at the National Archives of Australia with the control symbol 1962/1658. This has not been digitised yet but can be done so for a fee of about $20

Judy should be able to get enough information from this to support an application for the POSM.

Hi everyone, apologies for the delay but it’s a slow process for a two-finger typist! I have been meaning to put a progress report up on the website but every document I read seems to have one or two more names to be added. So, this is very much an interim report to let you see where we’re up to.

Thanks to everyone who’s contacted me with amendments, additions, staff lists and the like. While I go through this material and attempt to cross reference everything, I still anticipate many gaps in the information. Almost every book or document I read I find another name and have to try and evidence the reference.

Some documents I have taken as being self-evident, eg, staff postings lists, however this may not be foolproof as has been pointed out to me in relation to two names and I'm seeking some advice and am happy to go with the concensus.

The Department was made up of a number of Divisions and Offices where kiaps were posted but retained their kiap designation, eg, DDC, DO and ADO in Lands, Local Government and the like. As indicated, two names drawn to my attention, Terry Daw and Dave Case, appear on the staff list as District Officers and I included them on the Nominal Roll. However, it has been pointed out to me that although appointed with kiap designations, they were employed as and purely used as, Welfare Officers to liaise with kiaps.

So, to you people, do they go on our list or not?

Here's the list where we are up to at the moment so please have a look and fill in those gaps as best you can. Who were the others on your course? Who were the kiaps you served with on your various postings? Shake out the grey cells and see what you can recall to assist this exercise.

FOR A TWO FINGERED TYPIST YOU HAVE DONE AN AMAZING JOB, CONGRATULATIONS.

YES THOSE TWO OFFICERS WERE SOLELY APPOINTED AS WELFARE OFFICERS WHY THEIR POSITIONS WERE DESIGNATED AS DISTRICT OFFICERS IS SOMETHING LOST IN THE REALMS OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE. THEY COULDN'T BE APPEALED AGAINST BY RUN OF THE MILL KIAPS UNLESS THEY WERE QUALIFIED I DID ALSO NOTICE THAT THERE WAS A KEVIN RIGGALL IS LISTED WITH A SENIORITY OF 1957. HE IS NOT IN MY 1971 STAFF LIST AND IS IN MY 1973 LIST AS A CLERK CLASS 8 WITH A SENIORITY OF AUG 57. HE IS ALMOST CERTAINLY THE K F RIGGALL A EUROPEAN MEDICAL ASSISTANT I TOOK WITH ME ON 3 MENYAMYA PATROLS IN 1958.

Thanks all for compiling and updating the list. I was a 'late' comer in 1971, but stayed on for many years and have great memories of so many named on the list. Now live in Albury, NSW, and still working with troubled kids in Wodonga, Vic.

Thanks for all the advice. Problem resolved. Martin, I put my fuzzy memory down to a tin of sardines and I know not what other condiments shared with you on a Sydney beach one wet blistery day in early '71.

In 1950 * a new establishment arrived, the Fitzroy Crossing Native Depot …A new and zealous DNW (Department of Native Welfare) officer * fresh from New Guinea envisaged it as a training institution for the pastoral industry. (page 28).

* Subsequent Chapters and Endnotes support it to be District Officer Pullen, and his start date as 1949.

In 1949 a new district officer, with previous experience as a patrol officer in New Guinea, was appointed to Derby. District Officer Pullen was an enthusiastic and diligent officer, and a prolific report writer. He was no radical, but was a zealous reformer, who seemed to introduce an entirely new approach and way of thinking to the work of the Department. (page 68 et seq.)

Pullen’s lengthy reports were circulated around the public service for comment. Some of the responses reveal that the senior bureaucrats were still very much of the ‘smooth the dying pillow’ school of thought.It is also clear, for the first time in any of the DNW files sighted, that Pullen actively engaged the Aboriginal people on the stations, seeking their opinions, and at times complaints. (page 70).

By November 1949 … he continued:The actual set-up on the stations is that about 1/3 of the workers are intelligent blokes and excellent stockmen – they have been handling money at race meetings and on droving trips for years. A third are not quite so bright and the remaining third, on some stations, might be classed as ‘munjongs’ or ‘bushmen’ in New Guinea parlance. (page 72).

The Fitzroy races of 1950 would have been the first time that most of the Aboriginal people there had money in their pockets. District Officer Pullen was also at the races that year, and reported extensively.Congregation of Natives: Between the 31st August and 2nd September, 500 or more natives, in family groups, were congregated at Fitzroy Crossing. Race time is now regarded as their principal holiday time, when they foregather to renew old acquaintances, entertain and enjoy the racing and sporting events. (page 78).

District Officer Pullen seems to disappear from the Derby office not long after this, with no further trace of him in the files. It would be twenty-five years until an officer with similar energy and enthusiasm appeared again. (page 79).

Comment on Patrol Report 1 – 49/50 by Assistant Commissioner of Public Health.I had the good fortune to meet Mr. Elliot-Smith and Mr. Pullen. (page 71 – copy attached).

A name in the list of Kiaps is Harrold Eustace Woodman (appointed an ADO 31/5/1927).

I have been researching his life, as there is a large volume of philatelic covers in the stamp market.The Australian War Memorial "on line" records show his DOB as 21st September,1982 at Gawler, Sth Aust.

As a 14 year old, Harrold was awarded the Royal Shipwreck & Humane Society Medal for jumping in the water to rescue (unsuccessfully) A E Pengelley, a boy who was drowning.

A carpenter at Dungog, NSW he enlisted on 17th August,1914 (the day recruitment opened) & was assigned to the 4th battalio, 1st infantry brigade & embarked on "HMAT Euripides". He participated in the memorable Gallipoli landing on 25th April,1915 & remained until evacuated on 20th December. Harrold earned promotion, first to lance corporal & then corporal, on to command of a machine gun as acting sergeant .His unit embarked on the troopship "HMTS Grampian" at Alexandria to Marseilles, thence by train to southern Belgium, where he was appointed 2nd Lieutenant, full Lieutenant & then Captain. On 2nd January,1917 he was mentioned in Sir Douglas Haig's dispatches & awarded the DSO. Wounded on 18th April, Harrold was evacuated to 3rd London General Hospital until 9th August,1917 when he resumed service with the battalion.A shell explosion ruptured his eardrum on 19th October causing him to again be hospitalized in Rouen, but had to be invalided to England. Returning to France he was twice more mentioned in dispatches. Appointed to rank of temporary Major, he was among the long serving Australians to be granted "1914special leave to Australia.The rank of Major was confirmed &, following further examinations he was appointed Lt. Colonel on 1st July,1924.

Harrold Woodman went to New Britain with the Department Of Works. It is known that he took part in the Nakanai Punitive Expedition of 1926 following the murder by natives of four prospectors & the wounding of another. (This was under the authority of the Administrator of the mandated territory of the former German New Guinea, Brig. General E.A.Wisdon.

Harrold was invited to join the New Guinea Administration, initially as acting DO, Sepik (at Ambunti).Over the next twelve years he was at - Manus Island, Kavieng, Namatani, Gasmata & Aiitape on the noerh east cost of Sandaun province.

He was mobilised for Military service on 3rd June,1940, initally with 3rd battalion, then 2/4th. In April,1943 he relinquished his command & transferred to Regimental Support.

Towards the end of WW2 I understand he returned to New Guinea to take charge of Madang District before retiring in 1946 to Penrith, NSW. In post war years he led the Penrith Anzac march, & joined the Penrith Philatelic society.

Wherever stationed in New guinea, if the topography permitted, he would have the terrain cleared & prepare a landing strip for aircraft. Harrold created many "first flight" envelopes which he & the pilot would sign.Ordinary mailed covers with "huts" or "bird of Paradise" stamps sell for $100 - $200 but "First Flight" covers are selling up to $5,000 each.

I have replied directly to David Bowen regarding his request for information on Woodman who is quite a complex character, more so because there is so much information under both spellings of his forename, Harrold and Harold.

This reveals two dates of birth – 21 September 1892 for his World War One service and 21 September 1895 on his World War Two record. This is not unusual as he may have felt that his older age may tell against him getting an active appointment in WW2. This was clearly intended as he puts his age at 45 in March 1941 in an accident report.

His WW1 enlistment lists him being a “carpenter foreman” at age 22. Clearly his military record is first class and well deserving of the honours and decorations awarded. His actions indicate someone who showed initiative worthy of the promotions he received.

However, there is an unusual situation in his record whereby as he progresses through non-commissioned rank and is then given a temporary field commission as 2nd Lieutenant, none of his promotions are confirmed. At the end of the war he is holding temporary Major’s rank but his record reads “substantive Private temporary Major.” It is not until he goes onto the Reserve of Officers’ List in 1919 that his rank of Captain appears to be confirmed.

The Army is reorganised in 1921 and peacetime Citizens Military Forces units established. Woodman is appointed to command 13 Battalion, known as the Maitland Regiment, and promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel. He relinquished this command in 1924 and I’m presuming it was at this time that he travelled to New Guinea to take up employment.

His biography refers to his employment with Public Works and gold prospecting and it may have been as a result of the latter activity that he became involved in the punitive expedition after the murders of four gold miners at Nakanai in New Ireland.

With the New Guinea post-WW1 administration having a distinctly military feel under a succession of retired army senior officers, it is little wonder that Woodman would gain employment outside of the normal recruiting system for field officers. However, as explained to David Bowen, much of the records of the inter-war years was lost or destroyed by the Japanese when they captured Rabaul in 1942. We are fortunate that Woodman’s papers from this period have been preserved.

He was mobilised on 3 June 1940 into the CMF where he states his date of birth is 1895 and swears to that. He was initially posted to command 2 Recruit Reception Battalion at the Sydney Showgrounds and then in October 1940 to command 3 Pioneer Training Battalion. In January 1941 he transfers his enlistment to the AIF which enables him to serve overseas. He relinquishes command of 3 Pioneer Training Battalion and is posted to command 2/4 Pioneer Battalion.

The Battalion travels to Darwin from where it embarks for Timor on 14 February 1942. Japanese bombers force the convoy to return to Darwin on 18 February 1942 where the Battalion is posted to various defensive positions. On 8 April 1942 Woodman relinquishes command of 2/4 Pioneer Battalion and is posted to the Regimental Supplementary list without duties and on 24 May 1942 is released from Army service and is posted to the Reserve of Officers list.

His role as District Officer Madang could not have recommenced until at least May 1946 which is when the ANGAU military administration ceased and civil administration restarted. If he had returned before then it would have had to be as an officer under ANGAU and there is no record of this based on his service record. There is information that he was in Madang in 1947 but not beyond that.

Ross,Thanks for the details you provided.I had researched (as best I could) Harrold,s life and found the Aust. War memorial on-line records most helpful.The David Bowen put out a request on "Ex-Kiaps" for data & we made contact via emails.David's friend, Darryl Smith, knew Harrold in the late 1960's & even rented Harrold's house at "Madang Park", Penrith until his own house was completed.

I don't know which year (late 1960's-or 1970) that Harrold Woodman led the Sydney Anzac march.

I was residing in Lae TPNG in the early 1970's & flew to a number of centres as part of my employment. Probably the most memorable was a Christmas spent at Finchhafen & being driven over the crushed coral roads laid by the US Seebees battalion. Still serviceable, except where the indigenous grader drivers pulled the wrong handles & dug out the surface & exposed the jagged coral beneath. There were abandoned fighter airstrips with old planes rotting & equipment just left at war's end.Other flights to Popendetta, Mendi, Pt.Moresby, Goroka, Madang, & Wau still come to mind occasionally.I bet the Explorer's Club at Mt.Hagen was closed when local government took over.Since independence I have not felt a desire to return.

Further research has disclosed that in 1944 (after being "retired" from the Army active list), he stood for the seat of Willoughby in the NSW Government elections, on behalf of the DLP.He was defeated by the sitting member, George Brain.

Residing on a property he named "Madang Park" at Penrith, in 1954 he was elected in A Ward of Penrith Council. He was on the council in 1955 & again in 1956.

Two old residents of Penrith has indicated they recall Harrold as a pedantic, grumpy old man.

I have obtained photocopies of his patrol notes & his attention to detail is astounding. Names of natives he encountered when performing census duty, when listing native police actions, when pursuing wanted men, etc are all recorded as well as day to day activities. His handwriting was pretty good, but as the notes were often compiled "in the field' they are often difficult to read in the photocopies.The papers cover the period 1927 up to 1947.and my copies were obtained from the Australian National University in Canberra.

For several years we have been attempting to compile a Nominal Roll of all who served as Kiaps in the various administrative periods and territories to Independence. Your father’s name appears on the list for the administration of the Mandated Territory of New Guinea, details are as follows:Hector Macdonald Nickols born 23 June 1900. Appointed Patrol Officer 19 February 1925 but resigned 16 November 1926. He was based at Rabaul and reportedly found lode bearing quartz whilst on patrol in the Nakanai region of East New Britain. A legal file at National Archives provides details surrounding this episode.

His RAAF enlistment file provides further details of his employment history although gaps exist. Hector applied for an appointment to the RAAF Administrative Branch on 20 May 1941 and received a trainee appointment on 17 January 1942. On this form he stated that his employment and military service history was as follows:10/3/1917-23/8/1919 11th LHR 1/5/1925-12/2/1927 Patrol Officer Mandated Territory of New Guinea11/1927-2/1929 Manager/Accountant Guinea Airways Wau9/1934- Customs Clerk Commonwealth Government.

Hector’s World War One and Two service files and a legal file from PNG can be viewed on line at National Archives. His Patrol Officer employment file is available there but has not been digitised yet. We have a 23 June 1926 Government Gazette that provides details of his appointment and posting to Rabaul.

Re Errol Flynn, we know from various sources that he alleges that he was appointed to some form of government service in Rabaul in 1927 and which lasted about 6 weeks before this was terminated. As a Cadet Patrol Officer scheme had been introduced by then and he was not listed as a participant, his employment is suspect although two later senior officers claim they knew him and that he did kiap duties during that six weeks.

Please contact me direct if you’d like more information or copies of documents or links to on-line files. My email is lpwrw@tpg.com.au

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